Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
CARA
This was a terrible idea. The whole damn thing. Fake dating and lying to my friends? Terrible idea. Spending the entire afternoon together with my friends, who are extremely sarcastic and nosy? Bad idea. Going to pick up Vera at the goddamn fire station? The worst idea of them all.
Okay, so it wasn’t the worst out of all of my recent terrible ideas, but it was a close second.
I only wanted to torture myself, I guess.
I should’ve canceled. I should’ve faked being sick or something to get out of this game.
But Blair had called me after I texted with Vera for a little longer, and she sounded so excited to spend time together.
So thanks to my good heart and love for my best friend, I pulled into the fire station.
The first thing I saw when I walked in were firetrucks, obviously.
A few of them just sitting there, waiting to be used to save a life.
I’d never been in a firehouse before, and it was pretty cool.
There were a few people dressed in different ways.
Some in firefighting gear, some in regular clothes. Some in business attire.
I smiled at everyone as I walked by, unsure where I was supposed to go. I stopped when I saw several people gathered around a large pole I assumed was used to get down quicker in case of an actual fire.
I stood there and watched as someone was talking to the group, pointing to the pole and yelling up to whoever was at the top. “Ready to show them how it’s done?”
A few seconds later a body came into view.
Good God! I think I found a new kink. Just watching a woman slide down a pole was twisting me up inside, and my mouth parted, unable to control myself.
She was wearing firefighter gear, but only a white tank top, showing off her arms. Those arms. The arms I remember lifting me up as if I weighed nothing.
Those fingers inside me as if that was where they were meant to be.
Pull it together, Cara! What the fuck is wrong with you?
After she landed on the ground, she turned to me and smiled annoyingly before saying something to the group and heading towards me. I had just enough time to gather myself before she reached me. I had hoped she didn’t notice me ogling her, but the smirk on her face told me she did.
“Enjoying the show, princesa?” she said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes, but was unable to hide my smile. “You’re full of yourself.”
“Your eyes speak the truth your delicious lips refuse to say. But I’ll let it slide. You look incredible. Spin around for me?”
Against my better judgment, I did. I had chosen this outfit to be noticed, after all.
It was a forest green workout dress that had a little push-up moment for the girls.
And I knew that was exactly where her eyes would land first. I may have been a butt woman, and if I had to admit it to a dark corner, an arms woman, but Vera was most definitely a boob woman.
But who could blame her? Tits were amazing.
Women were amazing. Man, I really loved women. What were we talking about again?
“My, my, my.” She cleared her throat, seemingly trying to gather herself. I internally patted myself on the back. It wasn’t even the most revealing thing I owned.
“I’m sorry, by the way. Training ran a little later than I expected it to. Give me a few minutes to shower and freshen up before we go?” I nodded and headed for the exit, telling her I’d wait there.
A few people came up to me and introduced themselves. One woman didn’t seem very fond of me, and asked how Vera and I knew each other. She’d asked if we were dating but before I could answer, Vera came out of the showers and grabbed my waist.
“Ready to go?” she asked. The woman looked at where Vera’s arm was placed and smiled, if you could even call it that. It didn’t reach her eyes and she looked more disgusted than anything else.
“Definitely,” I answered.
“See you later, Tori.” She spoke again when we were out of the firehouse. “Sorry about her. She’s been trying to ask me out for months and I don’t know how to let her down gently.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. Is she not your type, or is it because you work together?”
I stopped at her truck and was surprised when she opened the driver side door for me. “A little of both. I wouldn’t want things to get complicated here, and also I’m not interested in her like that. I have my eyes on someone else.” She winked.
I paused for a multitude of reasons. The main one being what she was implying.
Was she seriously not dating because of me?
I normally wasn’t that shallow, to believe something like that, but how could I not think she was talking about me?
I didn’t want to ask and be wrong, I just had to hope I was.
I didn’t like the thought of Vera staying single because she was waiting for me.
Another reason I paused was because she opened the door for me. I’d never once had someone do that for me. I tried to hush the butterflies that were having a rave in my stomach. It wasn’t like we were going on a date or anything. She just opened the door for me.
After I got settled in, she rounded the car and got into the diver’s seat. “Ready?” she asked.
I nodded, not really ready to be in a car with her. Things were still new and I hadn’t gotten totally comfortable around her yet. “Ready.”
We rode about halfway to the country club in a sort of uncomfortable silence. Maybe that was just on my part. I didn’t know what to say. I’d glance over to her out of the corner of my eye, only to see her doing the same. I’d blush and turn back to stare out the window, fidgeting with my hands.
“I think we should talk about the game.” I was just about to say… something to kill the silence, when she spoke first.
I frowned, looking at her. “What about it? It’s sort of like tennis. Very easy to learn.”
She laughed, placing her hand on my bare thigh. I looked down and ignored the way my body felt cold when she pulled away.
“I meant about us. This is our first public outing as a couple—”
“Fake couple,” I added. “We aren’t actually dating, Vera.”
“I know that, Cara. I assume you have rules and expectations for this. Let me see if I’ve clocked you correctly.” She shifted in her seat and cleared her throat, I assume to imitate my voice.
“We need rules. No touching, no flirting, and absolutely no kissing, no matter how badly I want to. How’d I do?” She returned to her normal voice and I had to cough to clear away my smile.
“I do not sound like that. And we have to make it look like we are actually together, so light flirting is fine. Just no mentions of Fairview. We have to make it believable, so I expect some sort of touching. Hand holding is okay, I guess. If we need to. Maybe a hug. And as far as kissing…”
I wanted to say hell no to that one, but I knew that wasn’t an option. “On the cheek only.
Her smile was irritatingly charming. “That’s more than I thought I’d get. I can work with that.”
I rolled my eyes, letting silence fill the air as we made our way to the club.
I never thought I’d be the type of person to frequent a country club.
It wasn’t like it was an elite exclusive club that you could only get into if you were invited and paid fourteen arms and legs for, but it was still a really nice club.
They had a few restaurants, a salon, and several different sports areas.
One of which was my favorite, pickleball.
I’d been playing the sport since I was about ten, seeing a couple playing it at the park, and I asked my parents what it was and to teach me the game. It became a regular thing we did every weekend together.
We pulled up to the club and were greeted by their new sign they just put in.
“Grandview. I’ve never been here before. It looks fancy,” Vera said, reading the sign.
I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t been here. Not that I didn’t think she could afford it, but she didn’t seem like the country club going type.
“I come here a lot. Usually with Blair or Drea. Sometimes both.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Of course you do, princesa.”
I frowned. “Is that supposed to be an insult? I didn’t judge you for not coming here before.”
She placed a hand on my leg and I tried not to flinch at the contact. “Of course not. I would never dream of insulting you. I was just saying that a place like this, seems like your kind of place. It’s beautiful and polished, just like you. It’s the type of place you belong.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d always just thought of it as a place I liked to come to. Maybe it was because it was private and felt more pretentious than it actually was. Like I was important enough to have a membership to a place like the country club.
I smiled and led us inside. When we got to the pickleball court, Drea and Blair were already there, of course, getting cozy. I cleared my throat and shut the door behind us, grabbing their attention.
“You made it, love! And you brought Vera. It’s good to see you again,” Drea said as they started walking over to us.
“You guys look great!” Blair brought me in for a hug.
“Thanks, babe. So do you. Have you been waiting long?” I asked.
Drea shook her head as Vera exchanged hugs with my friends.
“No, not at all. We only just arrived. I figured we could do some light stretching first, then get started. How do we feel about me on Blair’s team and Vera on yours?
That way there is equal parts muscle and beauty on each team and it’s fair. ”
I rolled my eyes and smirked when Blair glared at Drea. “How nice of you. How about me and Cara Versus you two ‘muscles.’ I think we’ll manage just fine without you.”
I raised an eyebrow at Drea’s reaction to Blair’s defiance. I thought she would’ve argued a little more. Drea was very competitive on the court. But instead, she kissed her cheek and smiled.
“Of course, dear. I’m fully confident in your ability to win without me. I love you.”
“Wow,” I said. “What a crock of shit. Let’s go warm up, Blair.”